Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Robert Vermaat]

Oh, we're going OT with this!!!

Hi Chris,

Cynric is a perfectly normal Saxon name (cyn "people, race, kin" + ric "power, dominion, rich") - it is not Brittonic. Cerdic is of less certain origin (it's possibly borrowed from Brittonic, but I doubt it), but can also be etymologized as Anglo-Saxon (perhaps originally a place name, cer- "turn, bend" + dic "mound, bank, dyke").

I'd like to see this as less absolute as you do. After all, not every etymologist is of the same opinion, or at least not as absolute. Cynric could be a Saxon variant of a celtic Cunorix, as we also see with some place-names that are originally British or Latin, and continue to develop as Anglo-Saxon. That's possible when you have names that sound alike, although with different meaning in both languages. I'd say that Cynric is a possible, as is indeed Cerdic. Of course it 's possible to etymologyse Cerdic as Anglo-Saxon, but it's a bit stressed. I'd like to keep an open mind instead of declaring both names to be 'only' Anglo-Saxon. I see no reason to do so.